Friday, July 15, 2016

Mattel has been putting out extra tall Barbies at regular intervals for years, but yesterday was the first time I realized that they actually sell extra outfits for their 28"/71cm BFF line. And since that's roughly the same size as a number of SD+ (65cm+) sized BJDs, I naturally wondered if this meant we now have a mass marketed supply of giant doll clothes, and so brought one of the outfits home

The tag that caught my attention.

Today's photos aren't the best, but I thought this was too interesting of a find not to share.The particular outfit that I picked up was sold for $9.99 USD and included three pieces: a sleeveless top, a sweatshirt and jeans. Compared to standard-sized Barbie outfits, I thought that seemed reasonable (and of course compared to most BJD clothes, that's practically free!).

The outfit.

Before we try the outfit on, in case you're not familiar with the dolls sizes, here's a quick photo of a similarly sized doll with some other common sized friends:

On the far left is Ipleshouse EID Chase who at 71cm, is the same height as BFF Barbies (although the Barbies are quite a bit slimmer). You can see that he towers over theAmerican Girl, MSD size, and Monster High dolls next to him.

Before trying the clothes on any dolls I'd been assuming that the tops would probably fit fairly easily, but had my doubts about the jeans. I needn't have worried though, because once I dress the guinea pig (Volks SD16 Amethyst) the jeans actually ended up being the piece that fit the best!

In the jeans and sleeveless top.The neck line isn't perfect, butit's still serviceable.

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With the sweatshirt: it's baggy, but that's also the style.

Overall, while the quality of this outfits isn't great, I think it's more than acceptable for the price point (I would wash the jeans before leaving them on the doll though - they seem like they might stain). And considering how near-impossible it is to find mass marketed doll clothes in this size range, I'd call this a success even if the fit is imperfect.

Oh definitely, I hope I didn't come off as implying that there's nothing between this $10 Barbie outfit and those $200 Dollheart sets! Maybe I should rewrite that bit?

Even so though, without very many mass market dolls in this size range, it was definitely a new and exciting thing to see these on the shelf - I may have done a little dance right there in the Walmart toy aisle! ;)

Actually, the mistake is mine in this case. What I meant is that people also make clothes for supersize Barbies, and there are probably cheap patterns out there for them. But of course you are also right that there are other clothing alternatives for the SD-size dolls.

I'd be excited to find an inexpensive, yet useful outfit for a doll too. I guess in my case, the closest example would be a 16" Tonner.

Cool! The fit of the yellow tank top is within the tolerance of most real women for "eh, it's a flattering color and cheap, I'll buy it, maybe slap a necklace over it to hold it flat," so there's an element of realism here. The jeans look great!

Hi JS,They would be great for anyone on a budget, or those who would prefer to spend their money on dolls rather than their clothes. However, I'm not a huge fan of mass marketed clothes for my BJD's, I prefer to either make them myself or buy from individuals on Etsy.

Yup, you can certainly get more unique (and high quality) pieces that way! But like you said for people who don't have the money (or don't have the time/experience to sew), I'm happy to see that there are a few more choices out there. :)

Okay, wait up, there are 28" Barbies??? I fell off my chair when I read that on your post. I had no idea. That is pretty cool. I will have to do a google search now.

Thanks for the clothing review. I have never seen any of these where I am but I think they would work well as pattern pieces too if you wanted to make your own simple tops for your bigger dolls but didn't know where to start or hated making patterns (like me!). But it is nice to know there are alternative clothing sets out there. Especially as it takes me forever to save up for bjd clothes.

Yup, I've been getting back into sewing lately, but I'm so out of practice that it'll be awhile before the dolls have anything new to show off from that, so this was a nice find to tide them over for a while. ;)

And the giant Barbies are wild, aren't they? I think the first time I saw them in a store I took 50 pictures of them just because of the shock (I always meant to post those, and somehow forgot about it). Since they're marketed for kids as young as three years, sometimes the dolls are taller than their owners!

So cool! That is a big Barbie, though! I saw one before my summer vacation at the Swedish Toys r us. Walked by, saw the doll and thought "what a big doll" and walked a couple of steps more....and then it hit me! I was like 'waaaait a minute'! Had to squueeze and loook and wonder! Amazing.

Like a few other people here, I never knew (nor have I ever seen) extra tall Barbies! My goodness, you learn something new everyday! Thank you for sharing. By the way, I had been admiring this doll of yours for awhile but never realized she was so tall!

I no longer have any bjds bigger than my Kaye Wiggs MSDs but these outfits would be a great choice for people who may not sew, or have time to sew, and could be mixed and matched. I like finding alternatives to sewing things sometimes!x